Update at 11 p.m.
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Cabell Huntington Hospital President and CEO Brent Marsteller referred to cutting 40 employees' jobs as "the right thing to do for the future, but it's very difficult."

He said the layoffs ultimately are blamed on the nation's economic emergency.

"In the past ... health care has been kind of isolated from the regular economy, and this is the very -- one of the very few times I've ever seen where the economy really has affected hospitals and the health-care industry," Marsteller said. "There's more people, unfortunately, that do not have health insurance or are under insured, so that hits us in the way of uncompensated care."

That cost the hospital about $45 million last year. Also to blame is the credit crisis. The interest rate on the debt used to build the new North Tower more than doubled in a two-week period, costing nearly an extra $500,000 a month.

"Be leaner -- that's the best way of saying it," Marsteller said. "So we're looking at every area, and our management team throughout the hospital is looking at every line item to see what we can do safely and in an appropriate way to reduce the expenses for our patients."

Despite the job cuts, Cabell Huntington Hospital plans to continue recruiting new doctors.

Overall, the hospital has not seen a reduction in patients. According to the American Hospital Association, however, some hospitals are seeing patient numbers drop 40 percent because families just can't afford health care.

Original story
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Cabell Huntington Hospital announced Tuesday that it eliminated forty positions as part of an overall plan to cut costs.

The jobs are supervisors and management personnel. A release from the hospital says none of the affected employees are involved in direct patient care.

CHH President and CEO Brent Marsteller said these moves are in response to unstable financial markets, less reimbursement for health care and rising costs.

Marsteller said the hospital provided $45 million in uncompensated and charity care to patients in 2008. Marsteller said that number has been increasing due to the poor economy. He also pointed to increasing costs for supplies and medicine, along with the increased cost of employee benefits.

In 2008, CHH opened a new wing for patients that increased the company's debt by $100 million. The hospital also performs several services at a financial loss, such as trauma care, burn intensive care, pediatric intensive care and neonatal intensive care. Those services aren't cut because of the importance to the community, according to the release.

"Our hearts go out to these employees and their family members, but these changes are necessary for our hospital to remain strongly positioned to fulfill its mission of caring for the community and providing leading-edge medical care,” CHH President Brent Marsteller said.

Marsteller said the hospital implemented a plan to cut costs and increase efficiency. The release did not elaborate on those details.

Cabell Huntington Hospital employs more than 2,000 people. The forty affected employees will get severance packages and job placement assistance.